It’s been a long week since we last touched base. With the continuance of folks getting the COVID vaccine, more and more things are coming back. That included this week seeing the return of the county fair, the fair parade and the announcement of the Power of the Past – all three of which were cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Our thoughts are with Ms. Phyllis, who is in the hospital as I write this entry today. I hear she is doing fine after having some weird symptoms that quickly passed…but they want to keep her for some tests. Matt had a short work week with Cathy, as he continues to learn his new job. Abby continued working at WTRE with Sandy this week, focusing on prizes and advertising for the fair. She also helped Gma do some cleaning around the house. She enjoyed spending time with friends this week and also began working on sorority stuff. She enjoyed whooping up on me on the frisbee golf course as well. Luke had football practices, a football scrimmage out of town, worked at Hibbett’s, lifted daily (or twice daily) at the YMCA, spent time with buddies helped his old man around the house and still found time for his girlfriend. His senior pictures came back at the end of the week. I’ll have some previews to post on here next week. Ann enjoyed a short work week and got in some exercise again. It’s just baby steps at this point, but that’s how it starts. I had a long week at work but enjoyed spending it with Justin. We enjoyed getting our butts back in bleachers and watching high school sports again. We enjoyed doing family stuff together and spending time with each other during our daily adventures. I fell short of my weekly exercise goal due to the weather and our schedule – ending with about half of the necessary distance at seven and a half for the week. I did manage to play two rounds of frisbee golf. It seems to have helped keep my elbow from getting sore by limiting myself to just nine holes each day, instead of eighteen or more. We continued to receive a lot more rain this week. The ground is so saturated that any precipitation caused flooding, so it’s no wonder that we had a few issues with flooding this week. All in all, it was another good week, here at the Scheu abode. Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.
We were awakened way too early by the home phone ringing. It was Mom O and she had been trying to get ahold of Abby. However, since we had only been asleep for about three hours, we were all pretty tired. It was Ann who got up and answered for us. She was needing Abby or I to pick up Sandy, who dropped the Crossfire off at Acra’s. Abby and I were supposed to take Tonya over to Jerry’s garage to have her tire fixed – except we both forgot! So, we dragged our weary tails out of bed and dropped off Tonya then drove Betty White over to pick-up Gigi, run to the store and then drop her off at home. About an hour later, we picked her up again and took her out to J & A Auto to get her other car, which needed an oil change. Alexis called Abby a little later and said that she needed new tires so we gave the go-ahead to replace the tires. Abs told them just to keep the car and let her know when it was ready. We came home and Ann made bacon, egg & cheese croissants for breakfast. Abby made another round of them for us because we were all still hungry. We took naps that morning as I watched the two NASCAR races from Road America, up in Wisconsin. Luke came home from Oakley’s house to get cleaned-up. He wound up going back out with Oak to get Chipotle and then went to football practice that evening. He came home to change and then went out to the Y to work out. Matt slept-in then ate and went back to bed again. He wound up getting up around noon and talked with Ann & I for a bit. Once we got Gary up, we watched the new Rick & Morty from last night and said good-bye to Matthew. Gary was getting ready to go home later and realized he left his wallet in Matt’s car! So, he and Abby took the truck over to Mom & Sandy’s house, got the Ford and drove up to get it. While they were up there, they grabbed Barney and brought it home since Matt got his car back. I worked on the blog and got it finished up and published as I sat on the couch most of the day and didn’t do a whole lot of anything else. Ann made Fireworks popcorn for dinner as we watched another episode of Bosch. Afterward, I cleaned-up the house from yesterday and then Abby helped me organize the big middle drawer to our desk that is always a mess. That night, we watched a new movie called No Sudden Move on HBO Max and both fell asleep watching it. When Luke got home, I got up and went on to bed… Here are tons of pictures from our recent adventures.
We slept in a little on Tuesday morning, as I turned off my alarm instead of hitting snooze. When I realized what happened, I simply got up and walked to the family room and started working from home. Abby got up next and went into work at WTRE. Ann eventually got up and enjoyed the day off, reading in her recliner with Ion playing NCIS in the background. She eventually made us a late lunch with smoked sausage, parmesan encrusted peas and fresh corn on the cob. Luke got up at some point and went to Dunkin. He and Oakley wound up in Columbus for a while then went to the school, where they caught the team bus down to Seymour for their next football scrimmage. I wrapped up work, showered and then we went over to Mom & Sandy’s house to pickup the Escape and cruise down to watch Luke and Pirates participate in a 3-way scrimmage with Seymour and Scottsburg. Luke played running back on offense and middle linebacker on defense. He had a couple nice tackles, ran the ball once for a couple yards and had an exciting de-cleater on a would-be rusher. It was by far the best hit of anyone on the night! ???? They ran 10 minutes each on offense vs. Seymour. Next, they played defense vs. Scottsburg. Then, they played defense vs. Seymour and finally offense vs. Scottsburg. After that, they had the lines do some drills on one end while they did 7-on-7 for a series defense vs. Seymour, 7-on-7 offense vs. Scottsburg and then the scrimmage was halted due to lightning in the area. Once they looked at the radar and saw the big storm approaching, they decided to go ahead and call it a night. The boys stopped to eat at Rally’s and we stopped to eat at the Azul Tequila, where it was $2 margarita night…too bad I had to drive! I requested some extra-hot sauce for our chips and my meal (I got the spicy shrimp) that lit me up! They guys came back a couple times to check if I was OK. I was sweaty, so you know I was loving it! We had an uneventful drive home and swapped cars back at Mom & Sandy’s and talked with them for a few minutes before heading home. Luke came home for a few minutes and then went out to the YMCA to lift weights – talk about your dedication! Way to go, little buddy! We picked up Tonya from Jerry that evening, who fixed her back tire, put on two new tires and gave her on oil change for us. We still need to get her two new tires on the back before she heads back to school. I did the dishes, took out the trash and picked up the house before sitting down to watch game one of the NBA finals. The Suns beat the Bucks, thanks to a great game by Chris Paul. I tried to wait up for Luke, but I was pretty tired and the next morning it was back to reality for Ann & I…
It was back to work for all of us on Wednesday morning. Even Black Betty was upset about going to work today. She needs another dose of the magical elixir, I’m afraid. Work was busy, busy, busy. Our friend Michelle was sick and wound up in the hospital so we were all scrambling to pick up all the pieces of her job role. Even I had a couple pieces to update from the long weekend. I was in the process of doing that along with catching up all of my paperwork when the state walked in, unannounced as they do each year. They were a couple months early, but they can come whenever they please. It was time for our annual Health & Sanitation survey. The gals were very nice and quite helpful in ensuring our regulatory compliance. They want us to succeed and we appreciate their input and candor. It’s always good to have a fresh set of eyes looking at the EOC for me. They only had one issue for me to work on and just a couple of other minor things they’d like us to do, which was cool. We got a good score, but we didn’t end the EOC tour until about 1:30 and didn’t finish with the exit interview until after 2:30. So, it made for a hectic day, but it went really fast! I missed breakfast and lunch but Justin was nice enough to surprise Vic & I with Yee Kee for a late lunch. After work, I walked a little over two and a half miles around the airport property. It was the first time I had this type of workout in about a week. After I picked up Annie and came home, I dropped her off and went out to the park to play a quick round of frisbee golf. It was pretty hot that afternoon – in the mid-eighties and the humidity was pretty high as well, which kept me a little sweaty that evening. But it didn’t affect my game much as I managed a 1-under 26. Meanwhile, Ann had a busy day as well. It was our first day back at the Columbus office since Thursday. So, not only was there a lot to catch up on but also had to call the police (hospital security) to come get a homeless person out from behind their office. Abby got up early to go over and have breakfast with Gma and visit with her for a while before heading into work at WTRE. She is gathering donation prizes for them to giveaway at their fair booth this week and next. As we came home from work that evening, we saw that the rides had arrived and the midway was already setup! She had a big Pi Phi Zoom meeting that evening. Luke did not have football so he worked at Hibbett’s then lifted weights at the Y with Ethan. He was just leaving to clean his car when I got home from frisbee golf. Ann hopped on the elliptical while I was gone to the park and then she made Fireworks popcorn for dinner that night and we watched the final two episodes of Bosch. We have tons of social media pictures to share this week.
We went into work on a rainy Thursday morning. It turned into a rainy Thursday period. Estimates are between one and two inches fell in brief downpours on and off throughout the day. I know they had some wind damage to some stuff out at the fairgrounds, which did nothing to curb the enthusiasm of the town to attend opening day of the Decatur County Fair. We both had very busy days again in Columbus. We had new hire orientation, which filled my morning. We took a late lunch and went to Mancino’s and the Best Buy to help Justin pick out stuff for his home office as begins taking college courses at the end of the summer. After work, it was raining too hard for even me to walk in, so I went to the mall. There weren’t but a handful of customers in the eight open stores and there were only a half dozen walkers, so it was pretty peaceful. I’m not sure how that place is even still open at this point but I’m grateful that it is. I picked up Annie and we caught up on each other’s days as we commuted back home in old Black Betty. I dropped her off at home and picked up Abby so we could go play frisbee golf at the park. The fair was really hopping! My little partner beat me for what may be only the second time! I played horribly, scoring a 4-over par. She beat me by one stroke. I blame the wet grass for making my frisbee hard to control as my fingers kept slipping. Abs had a fast day of working for WTRE and doing a few chores around the house. Luke slept in then went to football practice. That evening, not even he and his buddies could avoid the allure of the fair. Who can blame them? They haven’t been able to go in two years since COVID cancelled it last year. We had a quiet night of Ann reading, Abby doing Pi Phi meetings and playing Matthew in Fortnight and I edited pictures and videos while watching Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix. I, of course, fell asleep on the couch and after fighting for a bit, gave it up and went on to bed…
Friday was a long day. It started like most Fridays as Ann & I went through Dunkin then I dropped her off at the downtown office. I then drove Barney over to Columbus, where I worked a double shift with Justin. Vic tried to fix the A/C in it, but I don’t think it worked – unfortunately. I never really got a chance to try it out. It was a much cooler day and it was gorgeous all day long. I had a fast day as I had a bunch of little tasks that had accumulated all week that kept me busy. Justin & I went out to lunch with his family at Chicago’s Pizza. We only had a couple hours when we got back and then Justin & I went down and worked on the 200 unit on 2nd shift that evening. It was great working with Justin and the girls were really good for us. Before we knew it, the evening was over and it was time to head home. Meanwhile, Abby got up and worked at WTRE. She picked up Ann around noon and they went around picked up gifts from various vendors for Sandy and crew to giveaway at their fair booth. Abs wound up out at the fair that evening with Julia. Luke had the day off from football. I’m not sure if he worked at all, but I know that he mowed the lawn for me, which was a great surprise that really meant a lot. He went out to the fairgrounds and worked out at the YMCA. He stayed the night at Oakley’s house after making a midnight Taco Bell run. Abby & Julia were at their friend Daisy’s house when I got home but came over to see me a few minutes later. Ann & I caught chatted and got caught up on our days. When the girls got home, we enjoyed some porch time as Bu made us a few rounds of cocktails – Amaretto Sours, Tommy Specials and Purple Passions. I enjoyed a good cigar and we played 3 or 4 games of Sorry. Julia had to work in the morning, so she went to bed while Abs and I had one more round of drinks as she made a Whiskey Sour with Knob Creek rye – yum! We watched an episode of The Simpsons that we hadn’t yet seen and then went on to bed sometime after 3 am… Here are pictures of recent additions to my Hot Wheels collection.
We enjoyed sleeping in a little bit on Saturday morning. It had rained again that morning, which likely attributed to me sleeping like a log. We got cleaned up, loaded into Barney, dropped off Julia and headed over to St. Paul to get pastries from Lori at Wild Flour. We took Delilah with us and while Ann & I went inside, Abs took DD for a walk around downtown. We came back to town and stopped by Mom & Sandy’s house. It continued to rain the whole time we were out and by the time we left Gma & Gigi’s place, it was coming down pretty good. When we got home, I ate and paid the bills while the girls enjoyed their treats with a cup of coffee and in their happy places – Ann in her chair and Bu in front of her laptop, gaming with Matt. After I finished, we jumped back in Barney and went out to Walmart to do some serious shopping like we hadn’t done all year. We wound up with two full carts and several hundred dollars lighter in the wallet. We cleaned-out the fridge and even pitched most of the stuff in our freezer chest (two-plus garbage bags full!) to make room for all the new stuff. By the time we finished putting everything away, it was three hours after we left for the store! Abby got changed and went out to eat with Mary at El Reparo. She came home, made jalapeno popper dip and went out to Megan & Mallory’s house for Jake’s birthday. Meanwhile, Luke got home from Oak’s house for only a moment to change and then went to work at Hibbett’s. He went to the YMCA to lift when he got off work a little early. Afterward, he showered and went to Columbus for Chipotle with his buddies. That left Ann and I alone with the dogs. She made a $5 Walmart pizza for lunch (you can’t beat the price!), put on the NASCAR dirt track race and then what is supposedly Kyle Busch’s final Xfinity series race – which he won again (#102). I nodded in and out of dreamland while working on the blog. Abby & Jarett stopped by to see Delilah and pick up some stuff before heading back out to the party. Ann and I grabbed something to eat and watched a couple movies – Jesse Stone: Stone Cold, a 2005 Tom Selleck thriller that was OK and then I watched the new Prime Video called Tomorrow War that I thought was pretty enjoyable (though predictable). Luke came home from the fair with Laney and they hung out at the house for a couple hours. When Abby got home, Luke thought we were being TP’ed so he ran out into the rain – only to find Heather dropping off Abby. He went on to bed and Abs made us a nightcap whiskey sour with the Knob Creed rye again and watched a couple episodes of Rick & Morty. It was a nice way to wind down the evening.
The dogs had us up far too early on Sunday morning, barking and carrying on. Ann tried unsuccessfully to go back to bed while I stayed up and began writing out the html code for this week’s blog entry. I watched a great documentary on Hulu called Summer of Soul, which chronicled the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which was a free concert held at Mt. Morris Park. Luke got up and went to the Y to lift then got cleaned up and went to work at Hibbett’s. He got off early and decided to go workout at the Y with Oakley again. We warned him that Park Rd would be closed early, but they cut it a little too close to the line. Oak made it through but Luke did not. Abby helped me get the truck set up over at WTRE again this year as I parked it in the front yard at WTRE to watch the Fair Parade from the bed of Betty White in our lawn chairs. Although we didn’t have any of our own children this year, we did have Oak sit with us and Delilah. Abby stayed and helped Gigi at the station while I walked back. I finished up watching the Haunting of Bly Manor series then took a nap with Annie. Abs picked up her car and drove out to the fairgrounds to work the booth while Sandy drove in the parade. She got to meet Olympic gold medal winner Sugar Ray Seales afterward. Luke wound up sitting with Abs at the booth until Oak could get out there to pick him up to come home and shower. We brought home a sack full of candy again this year. We saw lots of cool cars / trucks as well as participants. We were disappointed that we didn’t get any Jimmy Johns because they weren’t in in the parade this year. Ann & Oak rode in the back of Betty White in their lawn chairs as we drove back home from across the street. I was proud of how easily Ann was able to get out of the back of the truck! You’ve come a long way, baby! We turned the air conditioning on high and I sat in front of the fan with my shirt off for a half hour to cool down. Delilah did a great job at the parade. She sacked-out hard when she got home. Luke & Oak went out to the fair again that evening while I turned on the NASCAR cup race in Hotlanta and enjoyed some cheesy popcorn for dinner. That evening, Ann read while I flipped on Disney+ and binge-watched their new Star Wars animated series called The Bad Batch, which is very similar to the old Clone Wars series. In fact, as far as timeline goes, this takes place at the end of the Clone War – just as the Republic was abolished and the Empire created. I watched it while finishing up the blog, despite nodding off a few times. It was a relaxing way to wind down the weekend and put the kibosh on another fast week…
Next up is our Waybac segment which continues to feature pictures from Dee’s first digital camera, back in 2005. We lead off in March where we see Bu & Grace at Gma & Gigi’s house on Easter Day as well as Gma & Gigi at our house for Matt’s birthday. In May we have Mom with the Campsendelles at her & Gigi’s house on Main St. Next, we move on to June and see Luke & Matt at Luke’s birthday at our house in Ryle. In July, we have a ton of pix: the county fair with Mom, Sandy, Curtis & Grace; 4th of July at our house for cornhole with Luke and fireworks out back as well as the parade downtown with Matt on his Stingray and then eating lunch back at Mom & Sandy’s house afterward with Bu & Grace; Grace’s birthday at Mom & Sandy’s house; and Sandy’s birthday. Next we fast-forward to October with Grace and then wrap up in December on Christmas Eve at Gma & Gigi’s house as always.
Next up is our video segment, which features one new home movie this week as well as several from around the internet.
And that does it for this week’s blog entry. Thanks for keeping up with us this time out and we’ll catch up with you again next time. Until then, have a good one and stay safe out there. We miss ya, Mom.
Later, Scheu